The song 'Take Me Home Tonight' by Eddie Money popped up on my Discover Weekly last week. It did nothing at all in the UK, but I must've been vaguely familiar with it as I knew the basic tune. I thought it typical 80s AOR fodder - catchy, sprightly, but ultimately throwaway. Throwaway, that is, until Fabulous Veronica struts in and injects disproportionate gravitas while doing little more than reciting her most immortal refrain over and over:
(She's captivating in that video, too.) Caught me way off-guard given that she's uncredited, and it made me realise just how much I adore this woman's voice! The Ronettes had a straight shot at being the greatest girl group of all-time imo: Ronnie's ability to convey weariness and grit under a guise of innocence + Phil's grandiloquent Wall of Sound = musical heaven. Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes... is a sorely underrated record, boasting possibly the most perfect song ever made and the lesser-appreciated majesties of 'Baby, I Love You', 'Walking in the Rain', 'I Wonder' (those strings! my heart!), etc. It's a shame Phil was such a fucking cunt and that's as far as they got in terms of releasing albums.
I'm not overly familiar with Ms. Spector's solo offerings, but I've long admired her take on this minor punk classic which she moulds into an unexpected tearjerker:
And even though they don't show, the scars are so old...
And ofc, there's her superior reading of 'Say Goodbye to Hollywood'! With the ascendance of my Heavenly Fathers Prince and Bowie, Bruce Springsteen is the only human left on planet Earth I legit stan, and Ronnie + my beloved E-Street Band is as magical a combination as one can find post-Phil Spector going full fucktard. I wish they'd cut a whole album together.
This whole train of thought reminded me that the E Street Band also gave a truly joyous assist to another escapee from the Spector stable, Miss Darlene Love:
I shouldn't say this because I'm now a card-carrying Friend of the Lambs™, but Darlene is forever my Queen of Christmas. She has my favourite festive song ever (the obvious one) and this here is surely in my top five. I've been foisting it upon dinner guests at Chez Spice every Dec 25 for the last decade and to this day have no idea why it wasn't much bigger given the Home Alone 2 tie-in. Stupid public.
Darlene and the Blossoms also have one of the ATG girl group hits in 'He's a Rebel', though for some reason they saw it credited to the Crystals instead. Their only other song that I'm familiar with is a lovely little lost classic which makes me want to learn more:
Anyway, just wanted to take a moment to shout-out these ladies, esp. as we're approaching a season where we'll hear both more often. These are the two finest girl-group vocalists ever imo (with apologies to their obvious successor Mel B who just wasn't given a fair shot
), and if there was any justice in the world they'd have been massive solo stars in their own right. As recent events prove, however, just no longer exists if it ever did at all so please chime in with appropriate levels of appreciation and/or recommendations instead, thank you.
(She's captivating in that video, too.) Caught me way off-guard given that she's uncredited, and it made me realise just how much I adore this woman's voice! The Ronettes had a straight shot at being the greatest girl group of all-time imo: Ronnie's ability to convey weariness and grit under a guise of innocence + Phil's grandiloquent Wall of Sound = musical heaven. Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes... is a sorely underrated record, boasting possibly the most perfect song ever made and the lesser-appreciated majesties of 'Baby, I Love You', 'Walking in the Rain', 'I Wonder' (those strings! my heart!), etc. It's a shame Phil was such a fucking cunt and that's as far as they got in terms of releasing albums.
I'm not overly familiar with Ms. Spector's solo offerings, but I've long admired her take on this minor punk classic which she moulds into an unexpected tearjerker:
And even though they don't show, the scars are so old...

And ofc, there's her superior reading of 'Say Goodbye to Hollywood'! With the ascendance of my Heavenly Fathers Prince and Bowie, Bruce Springsteen is the only human left on planet Earth I legit stan, and Ronnie + my beloved E-Street Band is as magical a combination as one can find post-Phil Spector going full fucktard. I wish they'd cut a whole album together.
This whole train of thought reminded me that the E Street Band also gave a truly joyous assist to another escapee from the Spector stable, Miss Darlene Love:
I shouldn't say this because I'm now a card-carrying Friend of the Lambs™, but Darlene is forever my Queen of Christmas. She has my favourite festive song ever (the obvious one) and this here is surely in my top five. I've been foisting it upon dinner guests at Chez Spice every Dec 25 for the last decade and to this day have no idea why it wasn't much bigger given the Home Alone 2 tie-in. Stupid public.
Darlene and the Blossoms also have one of the ATG girl group hits in 'He's a Rebel', though for some reason they saw it credited to the Crystals instead. Their only other song that I'm familiar with is a lovely little lost classic which makes me want to learn more:
Anyway, just wanted to take a moment to shout-out these ladies, esp. as we're approaching a season where we'll hear both more often. These are the two finest girl-group vocalists ever imo (with apologies to their obvious successor Mel B who just wasn't given a fair shot

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